Angela Maasalu ja Eike Eplik
Draakoni galerii
01.10.-01.11.2026
Where Do the Monsters Grow
“At a time when our understanding of reality seems increasingly uncertain and truth ever more questionable, the void is filled by a visual stream and a confusing abundance of information. Finding an answer to any question one might have has never been easier, yet even greater confusion may lie just one click away. This confusion breeds resentment, and resentment breeds cruelty.
It is easy to demonise what one does not understand. It seems that, lately, the desire to understand has been replaced by bloodlust and instant condemnation. Everyone has a ‘voice’ and an ‘opinion’, yet at some point the focus shifts from judging the ‘accused’ to seeking an outlet for one’s own personal frustrations and dark impulses, without pausing to consider whether this is ultimately right or humane.
We live our lives through a system of personal beliefs, but beliefs are fragile prey to all kinds of manipulation. Within every person there is a shadow side: dark needs and urges that we do not wish to acknowledge. Instead, we pretend they do not exist, keeping them suppressed and hidden deep within ourselves.
Monsters grow quietly, through good faith, misunderstandings, foolish lies and disappointments. They are not necessarily born of evil; they may also stem from confusion, fear, ignorance and the desire to believe in simple answers. They grow wherever the desire to understand gives way to the desire to condemn, where disappointment turns into resentment, and resentment into cruelty.”
Angela Maasalu (b. 1990) is an Estonian artist living and working in London. She studied painting and art history at the University of Tartu (BA, 2012), continuing her studies in painting at the Estonian Academy of Arts (MA, 2015) and at UAL Central Saint Martins in the UK (2013–2014). She was nominated for the AkzoNobel Art Prize (named Sadolin Art Prize until 2019) in 2017, 2019, 2023 and 2024/25 (announcement in 2025). In 2024, she received the annual award of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia for her exhibition A Fool with a Heart of Glass at the Tartu Art House. In 2025, she was nominated for the Konrad Mägi Art Award. She has held solo exhibitions in Tallinn, Riga, London, Shanghai and Heraklion, Greece. Angela is represented by Tütar Gallery.
Eike Eplik (b. 1982, Rapla, Estonia) is a sculptor and installation artist who is deeply fascinated by biodiversity and its complicated relationship with humankind. Her recent exhibitions include Something New Emerges From Decay at Le Guern Gallery in Warsaw, Poland (2026); In Times When Everything Else Seems More Important at Kogo Gallery in Tartu, Estonia (2025); White Dwarfs and All Those Beautiful Nebulas at Kim? Contemporary Art Centre in Riga, Latvia (2024–2025); Down In The Bog – Sporulation at the Estonian Museum of Contemporary Art (EKKM) in Tallinn, Estonia (2024); Emotional Landscapes at Arka Gallery in Vilnius, Lithuania (2023); Growing Out? Growing Up? Contemporary Art Collecting in the Baltics at Zuzeum Art Centre in Riga, Latvia (2022). Eike is represented by Kogo Gallery.
Contact: eikeeplik.ee, angelamaasalu.com
Thank you: Silver Sikk, Gloria Niin, the Pallas University of Applied Sciences’ sculpture department, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Marten Esko and the Tütar Gallery
